Fort Smith Neighborhood Coalition Kicks Off Fifth Year

To kick off its fifth year, the Fort Smith Neighborhood Coalition met Monday and touted problem-solving meetings offered by the Police Department.

To kick off its fifth year, the Fort Smith Neighborhood Coalition met Monday and touted problem-solving meetings offered by the Police Department.

“I’m the biggest advocate of it because I’ve seen what it does,” said coalition President Carolyn Plank, who lives on North 12th Street. “Our neighborhood was the very first one that had a problem-solving meeting. We got rid of the prostitution in our neighborhood. That was the problem.”

The meetings bring police and neighbors together to identify specific problems. Police then target the areas of concern, which in the past have included drug activity, speeding, loud music, burglaries and drive-by shootings. Officer Trex Smith said he and officer Chad Cullen have taken over problem-solving duties from Chief Kevin Lindsey.

“He passed the torch to us,” Smith said. “We need to know what’s going on in the neighborhoods. We’re going to sit down and see what we need to do to take care of any problems.”

More than a dozen residents turned out for the meeting at South Side Baptist Church.

“The purpose of the coalition is to get people to stand up for their neighborhoods,” Plank said. “When we first started the coalition, we had 14 identified neighborhoods. Now we have 29. Hopefully, we can get more people interested in this.”

Plank advises residents to keep handy the phone numbers for Fort Smith’s Neighborhood Services department, as well as the Police Department.

“There is somebody in every department who can help you with any problem you’ve got,” she said.

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